Inside The Force 24/7: Police ‘run out of cells’ as lockdown restrictions lift

An expected big rise in incidents as lockdown restrictions lift, including a fight outside a pub, feature in the next episode of Channel 5’s Inside The Force: 24/7.

Episode five of the eight-part series, produced by Mentorn Media, will air on Channel 5 at 9pm on Monday, May 2.

Extra officers were drafted in to help and rest days were cancelled, with response officers patrolling Lincoln city centre to deal with the busiest night of 2021 as nightclubs reopened for the first time in almost two years.

A few hours into the night shift and the Force Control Room is already dealing with over 500 incidents.

PC Chloe Barnett is on van duty, transporting those arrested in town back to custody. She’s still in the team start of shift briefing when the first call comes in – a suspected burglar who’s been arrested and sprayed with pava gas.

Not long after returning PC Barnett is called back out again to a big fight outside a pub. A couple are involved in a brawl – the man is arrested for assault and both have to be brought back to custody.

PC Simon Berger is on patrol in the city centre when he’s called to an incident where a man is assaulting a bouncer.

The man is arrested but PC Berger needs Chloe to bring the van to collect him and, as he waits, a lively crowd begins to gather and he needs back up fast.

As the incidents pile up, PC Amy Burnett is called to a serious crash where a pedestrian has been hit by a car and is unconscious in the road. As his condition deteriorates, PC Burnett detains the driver as she tries to work what has happened.

In custody, Sergeant Steve Parker is on shift and starts with four of his 22 cells out of order, but within hours they are rapidly filling up.

With all the arrests coming in thick and fast Sergeant Parker worries they could soon be full and he will have to start turning people away.

When a huge fight starts near a nightclub, two officers are attacked and 20 are urgently sent to help their colleagues.

With the crowd refusing to leave a police dog is used to help restrain a man and a number of arrests are made. It means for the first time in nearly two years, custody runs out of cells.

The second series of Inside The Force: 24/7 goes behind the doors at Lincolnshire Police to show what life is really like for officers and staff at the station on South Park in Lincoln.

Episode one focused on the investigation into the death of Darren Munnelly.

Episode two showed the pressure police faced with a spike in incidents as England played Germany in the European Championships last summer.

Episode three focused on response officers and CID dealing with a series of domestic incidents, including a man shown on CCTV ‘punching the victim to the ground and then kicking her in the head’. The Crown Prosecution Service recently admitted it got it wrong over the brutal assault shown in the episode.

The fourth episode focused on a series of challenging mental health related incidents responded to by Lincolnshire Police.